


What Is And What Will Never Be

by Callisto_HK



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:01:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7849648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony had always been there for him; with no exception and despite everything, Tony'd ALWAYS supported him. One would think he'd learned how to repay his debt. But apparently they know what they're talking about when they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks! /Set in season 11.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is happening sometime after 11x16. So, there might be some spoilers there; but not too many.
> 
> Fair warning; if you're a fan of DiNozzo Senior, then you shouldn't read this one. The thing is I can't see him as the caring and loving father they're trying to show. Not after everything that we've heard about him during the first few seasons. I can't go with him being suddenly the father of the year and all! And besides, with him in the picture, we were seeing less and less of that father-son relationship between Gibbs and Tony and I kinda missed it. Didn't you?!

Tony had a bad feeling all morning. No, scratch that; he had a crappy feeling in his stomach; not the type of crappy when you eat something awful; no, it was the kind of crappy feeling when you know something terrible is going to happen and you don't even know what it is to prevent it. And with the job they had, it was almost impossible to stop crappy thing from happening.

 _'Almost'_ was the keyword there and Tony absently realized that he'd never loved that word more than the moment things started to go to hell. The moment Gibbs...

Let's start from the beginning.

They had been working on an annoying case which didn't seem to be anywhere near getting closed by the 11th day and everyone on the team was on edge as they all knew that a few more days and they had to call the case cold and put it away which was not fair to the Marine and his family who'd been killed violently in their home.

So, when they finally heard a word about one of their main suspects on the 12th day, they rushed into the old warehouse that they'd heard about and that was the day that Tony had that crappy feeling in his gut. The tip they'd received was right and fortunately they'd been able to find their suspect, but as Tim and their newest Probie, Ellie, were cuffing him, Tony and Gibbs started to take a look around and at the last moment, Tony noticed a creepy smirk on the criminal's face as the guy eyed Gibbs and his movements.

Glancing back at Gibbs, Tony saw that the older man was taking off the lid of a big box and the feeling in his gut intensified tenfold and he knew the smirk on the other man's face and what was going to happen to Gibbs in the next few seconds were very much related to the churning of his gut.

Yelling his boss' name, Tony hoped that he'd warned the older agent soon enough, but he was wrong and the lid was almost off; so before anyone could do anything or react in any way, Tony leaped towards his boss and pushed him out of the way as the box exploded into pieces, sending Tony a few feet backwards.

The explosion wasn't a big one at that, but it would've killed Gibbs had he been still standing that close to the box.

It took a few moments for Gibbs to fathom what had just happened but when he did, he was on his feet, rushing to Tony's side, ignoring the pain in his back where he had hit the ground.

The younger man was lying on his back and was clearly out for the count. There were signs of burns on his lower abdomen and left arm, but it seemed like his thighs had borne the brunt of the explosion as they were bloody and the fiber of his jeans had melted away, showing blisters already forming on the younger man's legs. His right leg seemed better as his left side had been facing the box when he'd pushed Gibbs out of the way, but that was no consolation as Gibbs was unable to rouse Tony.

It took Tim and Bishop a little longer than Gibbs to snap out of their hazes, but they hadn't let go of Carlson who was now laughing mischievously. Angrily, Tim pushed the man against the wall, not caring when his head hit the hard surface hard and bounced back. The laughter instantly died in the other man's throat.

"You bastard." Tim growled and grabbed his own set of cuffs to lock the man to the pipe that was attached to the wall. Once he was done, he once again pushed the dirtbag harshly and ran towards his fallen teammate, phone already out in his hand as he called for an ambulance.

"Boss?" He knelt beside them, silently asking if there was anything he could do.

"DiNozzo? Tony." Gibbs ignored Tim as Tony seemed to be coming around. "Hey, hey, easy. You got hurt; stay still." The older man instructed.

After a few seconds, Tony nodded his head and finally opened his eyes. "Wha-" he coughed wetly. "Happen'?"

Gibbs inwardly winced at the sound of Tony's cough and then a look of fear washed over both his and Tim's feature. There was blood on Tony's lips. He was coughing up blood, which meant he had either a broken rib puncturing his lung, or a piece of shrapnel doing that for him. Both options were bad, especially for someone with Tony's history.

Tony, who was oblivious of their thoughts, looked around with confusion until his eyes landed on Ellie who was standing a few feet away and looked like she was going to faint at any moment.

"Tim." Tony said hoarsely. "Get Bishop out."

Tim looked up and just saw how pale Ellie looked and realized that she'd never seen one of her teammates getting hurt and this was practically her first experience with something this severe. He also remembered another time when he, himself, had to go through the same thing when Gibbs had been blown up in that ship and back then, just like now, Tony had shielded him from the gory scene as much as he could. It was just like Tony to be worried about the Probie when he was lying on the ground, bloody and burned.

Nodding his head tersely, he jumped to his feet and went to Ellie, ushering her outside.

"No... No." Ellie tried to resist, but she wasn't very strong at that moment. "Tony-" she looked back with tears in her eyes.

"He's gonna be alright." Tim grabbed her shoulders and stood in front of her. "Stay here and wait for the ambulance. Alright? Tony knows what he's doing and believe me, I've been where you are now. Tony did the same for me. Stay here."

He didn't wait for an answer as he hurried back inside.

Tony was once again unconscious and he remained that way when the paramedics arrived and the whole ride to the hospital and during the quick examination in the ER before they rushed him to the OR after bunch of scans and tests.

Gibbs had gone to the hospital with them and ordered Tim and Bishop to get the criminal to the Navy Yard since another team had arrived to help them with the crime scene; so, Gibbs just called Vance to let him know what had happened exactly.

It was couple of hours later when Vance showed up at the hospital, followed by McGee and a clearly shaken Bishop.

"Any news?" Vance asked.

"He's still in the surgery." Gibbs replied curtly as he stood behind the closed doors of the operating room, thinking about the last few hours. He couldn't help blaming himself and thinking that it should've been him on that operating table, not Tony. He'd been careless and Tony was paying the price for it.

"The case is closed." Vance informed him, trying to distract his oldest agent, even for a few minutes. "I got the confession from that bastard."

Gibbs' only reaction was a nod.

"It wasn't your fault, Gibbs."

"You weren't there."

"I watched the tapes." Vance pointed out.

"Then you should know better."

"DiNozzo saved your life; you would've died if he hadn't pushed you out of the way. You were much closer to the box."

"And now he might die."

"Didn't think you'd give up just like that." Vance said, knowing his jab would make Gibbs angry, but it was better than watching the seasoned agent second-guessing himself and wallowing in self-hatred.

"Dammit, Leon." Gibbs growled angrily and for the first time looked the other man in the eyes. "He shouldn't be there fighting for his life. He tried to warn me. He'd _noticed_ something was wrong before I could touch that box."

"It's not surprising. You've said yourself multiple times that he's the best agent you've worked with." Vance said calmly, not affected by Gibbs' angry roar. He knew perfectly well how Gibbs must be feeling at that moment. "Don't dishonor his heroic action."

His words deflated the anger in Gibbs' eyes and the older man closed his eyes and sighed.

"He'll pull through." Vance patted his shoulder. "Now I have to get back to the Navy Yard, but I want an update every two hours."

Gibbs nodded his head and let the director walk away.

Looking at the other side of the room, he saw both Tim and Ellie leaning against the wall and felt bad for them. Tim had recently been there for his girlfriend and this must be really hard for the younger man and as for Ellie... Well, this was the first close call she had witnessed and he knew she must be shaken.

Walking towards them, he decided to be strong for his team. "Tim, go get us some coffee, please."

The use of his first name and the word ' _please_ ' didn't go unnoticed by McGee, but he wisely kept quiet and walked away. He knew his boss well enough to know he was worried about Tony and that he always got like that when he was really sad or worried for one of them.

"How you holding up, Ellie?" Gibbs stood in front of her.

She just shrugged and was a little disconcerted as Gibbs called her Ellie and sounded so mellow. "He... Gibbs... He-"

"I know." Gibbs said quietly and pulled her into a hug and no sooner than that, she burst into tears.

Some minutes later, she finally pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. You care about your teammate and that's a good thing."

"What if..." she trailed off. "I mean without Tony-" her bottom lip trembled again and she looked away. She really liked Tony and was learning a lot from him, he had this strange way of teaching her stuff, but it was actually interesting and she enjoyed working with him. His insight and way of thinking was quiet unique and she could see what a seasoned agent he was. Besides, he was an expert in Gibbs' language and she knew she could count on him whenever she felt lost or fed up. And even though she'd come to trust her new teammates completely, now she knew that Tony would _literally_ take a bullet for them which made her be both scared and thankful for Tony.

Gibbs smiled tiredly. "He's not going anywhere. You still don't know him that well."

"But-"

"The Boss is right." Tim said as he came back with three cups of coffee and handed them to his teammates. "You know now that he survived the _plague_. That must tell you a lot about him." he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more, but it felt good to comfort someone else; it was, in a way, giving him some much needed strength.

"Where's Abby?" Gibbs asked.

"She'll be here shortly with Ducky and Palmer. She had to finish a few more tests because she didn't want Carlson to get away with hurting Tony or with his other crimes. Ducky stayed there to make sure she was alright."

Gibbs nodded his understanding and suddenly remembered that there was another person who'd want to know about Tony being in the hospital.

Grabbing his phone, he headed out. "I'll be outside; one of you come get me if there's any news."

"Where did he go?" Ellie asked as she sipped her coffee.

"To call someone, clearly." Tim looked at their Boss' retreating back. "Tony's father, I'd say." He added after thinking about possible options.

Ellie's eyes widened. "Oh, poor man. He just got married."

"Again." Tim couldn't help it.

"Still. He just did and hearing that his son is hurt and in the hospital must be really hard."

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs tried DiNozzo Sr.'s number five times before finally giving up. The only number he had of the man was his cell's number and that was going straight to the voicemail. Still, Gibbs had left two messages, telling him that something had happened to Tony and that Senior needed to call him back immediately. For those who knew Gibbs, having him to leave even one message was some sort of miracle; _two_ messages simply meant he was beyond worried or pissed.

Yet, despite those messages, he still hadn't heard anything from Senior, almost fifteen hours later.

Tony had been out of surgery for 12 hours and had been settled in a room in the ICU.

His condition was still serious as his body had suffered more injuries than their first estimation.

He had third degree burns on his left thigh, which was going to need skin graft, and lots of deep second degree burns on his right thigh, his left arm and his lower abdomen. They were all bandaged, but the doctor had said that he'd be in a considerable amount of pain when he woke up as they couldn't give him anything too strong because of the condition of his lungs and his mild concussion.

His lungs were another matter and something that everyone was concerned about.

Due to the previous scarring to his lungs and since he'd received a pretty hard blast to the chest, Tony was already showing signs of pneumonia. Five of his ribs were cracked and three others were broken, but he was lucky he hadn't ended up with collapsed lungs, because in his condition it would've been fatal. Luckily the vest had prevented any shrapnel from entering his chest, but a small piece of a broken bone had pierced his left lung, merely two inches away from his heart.

That thought made Gibbs shudder. Tony could've very well died right in the bomb site if that piece of bone had landed two inches upper.

The medical team had taken out a few more pieces of shrapnel from all over his body, including his stomach, his left arm and some from his legs, but none of them, thankfully, had done any lasting damage.

So, all in all, Tony was facing a long and painful recovery but hopefully he'd recover.

That is if his lungs cooperated.

They had to have him up and moving as soon as he was alert enough to move, but with his legs being burned and injured badly, it didn't seem all that possible.

Gibbs just hoped that this wouldn't end Tony's career as a Field Agent, because although there was no way Tony would regret doing what he had done or blame him, Gibbs knew that it'd be really hard for Tony not being able to get back to the job he was so dedicated to. He also knew that he'd never forgive himself if he was the reason for the younger man to lose the life and the job he cared so much about.

After all, Tony was just like him; he didn't have much of a social life, if any at all, and it'd be devastating for him not being able to get back to the field because of his new injuries or his lungs; even if he would never show any sign of being upset on the outside.

"Boss?" Tim entered Tony's room but his steps faltered and for a few seconds he went quiet. Although this wasn't his first time visiting Tony after his surgery, it still hurt to watch the older agent like that. Ellie had gone home after she'd visited Tony the first time; she was still shaken and seeing Tony in that condition had once again brought tears to her eyes and Tim was glad that she, at least, had someone at home to take care of her.

Abby was still sitting in the waiting room, refusing to leave until Tony woke up, but Ducky and Palmer had left a few hours ago after Gibbs had ensured them that he'd let them know if there was anything new.

"I..." Tim finally looked up from the broken form of his friend to his boss. "I got the number you wanted." He handed the older agent a piece of paper. "I... I also traced both this number and Mr. DiNozzo's. They're both in a hotel in Maui."

A flash of anger passed across Gibbs' face before he stood up. "Stay with him. I'll send Abby in, too."

Going to the waiting area, Gibbs sent Abby to Tony's room and then called the number that was supposed to belong to the newest Mrs. DiNozzo and waited for someone to pick up the phone. After the third try, he was so irritated that he was going to throw his phone against the nearest wall, but right then, someone finally answered the phone.

"This is Mrs. DiNozzo. How can I help you?"

Gibbs could here chucking and giggling coming from the other side of the line as she said ' _Mrs. DiNozzo'_ and willed himself to calm down and not to yell in frustration. They probably didn't know anything; he could hardly blame them for being happy.

"Hello, Mrs. DiNozzo. Can I speak to your husband, please? Tell him this is Gibbs and it's an emergency."

The giggling stopped as soon as she heard the name Gibbs. "Gibbs? As in Agent Gibbs who works with Anthony? I don't understand. How did you get my number and what's your emergency?"

Gibbs clenched and unclenched his free fist. "I'm sorry for calling _you_ but I've called your husband's number numerous times and even left messages," he added annoyingly as he hated doing so, "but he has yet to call me back and if it wasn't important I wouldn't have called your number. Now;" he growled impatiently. "may I speak with AD?"

"AD?" The woman on the other side of the line sounded amused. "Sure. Hang on." She said and then Gibbs heard her talking to her husband. _'Hey,_ AD,' She put some stress on the new nickname. _'Here. It's for you.'_ She said and giggled again and Gibbs just realized that she was probably a bit drunk. Man, what was with those people in Tony's family? Even his Godmother wasn't different.

DiNozzo Senior was on the phone seconds later. "Gibbs. I know I'm irresistible, but do you think you could leave me alone in my honeymoon." The man chuckled at his own joke; his _very lame and very moronic_ joke.

 _'Great, he's drunk too.'_ Checking the time, Gibbs shook his head; it was 23.30 and it was no wonder that Senior was drunk. It didn't matter if it was 17.30 in Maui or that most people wouldn't get drunk in their honeymoon; ' _why would someone spend such a great time intoxicated?'_ Gibbs thought with disgust; this was Senior and his wife; of course they'd get drunk.

He was tempted to hang up, but he knew, now that they were closer, Tony would later ask for his father. He just hoped that the older DiNozzo was sober enough to get what he was about to tell him.

"You wouldn't be even the _last_ person I'd call on the worst days." Gibbs growled. _'What? Did the man think that they were best buddies now that Gibbs had convinced Tony to approve his marriage?'_ "Did you get my messages?" He asked instead of voicing his thoughts.

"Oh. Yes... Yes. Your messages. I got them and believe me, I wanted to call you back, but something came up." The older DiNozzo replied.

"Something came _up_?" Gibbs asked incredulously. He was now really losing it. "I told you that something has happened to your _son_. Your only child. What could possibly be more important than _that_? And especially when you're on vacation. Dammit."

"Hey, it's not just any vacation, it's my _honeymoon_." He protested, saying the word _'honeymoon'_ like it was his first time getting married. "And it's not my fault Junior can't listen to a good advice. I told him that his job was too dangerous and that he should consider some other career. I told him that he should quit that job, _multiple_ _time_ s. The last time was weeks ago when I was in D.C.! But did he listen? No. So, excuse me if I can't drop everything and rush to the hospital every time he manages to do something stupid."

Gibbs visibly bristled. "You arrogant son of a bitch. He'd do anything for you. Anything. He bailed you out when you'd created that mess those years ago and he forgave you for all your mistakes and shortcomings; I've lost count of the chances that he's given you and this is how you repay him? You just-" he was yelling now and he didn't even try to control himself. "You've never been there for him. Not even once. And you dare say you can't run to the hospital whenever he gets hurt? When have you _ever_ done that?"

For anyone who knew Gibbs, it'd be the strangest scene ever to watch him use so many words, even if it was to give a bastard like DiNozzo Sr. a piece of his mind. But those who knew Gibbs the best knew that he'd do anything for those he cared about and Tony was one of the few people he cared about more than anything else in the world.

"And what you call stupid is he doing an amazing job that the morons like you would never understand. He saves lives every day and helps people, something that you can't even get the meaning of. So, listen to me you selfish bastard. You ever need anything again or land yourself in some kind of mess, you forget you have a son. I'll _personally_ deal with you if you so much as think about using Tony again. I don't know why I tried to convince Tony you could change."

With that he cut the line and finally flung his phone against the wall. It hit the hard surface merely inches away from where Abby's head was.

Wait. Abby?

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs blinked as he noticed Abby standing there with big as saucers and watery eyes. The first thing that came to Gibbs' mind sent a cold shiver down his spine. "Abby?" He asked quietly. "Tony OK?"

Abby merely stared at him.

Taking a cautions step towards her, Gibbs touched her shoulder. "Talk to me, Abby. What's wrong?" He was almost scared of the possible answer he thought he'd get.

Abby finally snapped out of her stupor and blinked. "That..." She blinked a few times to get rid of the tears that had filled her eyes. "That was Tony's father, wasn't it?"

Gibbs nodded absently. "What's wrong Abby? Is it Tony?" He didn't have the time to talk about that arrogant bastard.

"What?" She looked confused. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Well, not any more than it already was. I just came to tell you that Tony is awake, but then you started yelling and..."

"Tony's awake?" Gibbs frowned. _'Crap. Has he heard him?'_

Abby nodded as if she could read his mind. "I'd say the people across town have heard you and if they," she nodded with her head towards the nurses' station and Gibbs looked back to see the nurses staring at him with wide eyes. "Weren't scared out of their minds, they would've thrown you out of here by now."

"Jesus." He cursed and leaned heavily against the wall.

"So, he won't come? Senior, I mean." Abby asked quietly.

"I think you know the answer to that."

Abby looked angry and shocked. "I can't believe it. After everything that Tony has done for him... After... I thought he was nice. He fooled me. He..." It would've been funny to see Abby having a hard time finding words if the situation wasn't that grim. "I hate him." She finally announced. "I'd kill him and hide his body, but I'm sure Tony still cares about him. Maybe I should talk to Tony; make him see things my way."

Gibbs sighed with resignation and pushed himself away from the wall. He needed to go and talk to Tony now that the younger man had most probably heard at least one side of the conversation he'd had with his dad.

It was time to do some damage control.

Entering the room, he almost collided with a nurse who sent such a deadly glare his way that Gibbs almost gulped loudly. The nurse grabbed his arm and once again pulled him out of the room.

"Listen to me and listen good, Mister." The old nurse spat angrily. "I had some respect for you, but right now, I almost want nothing more than cutting your throat. What were you thinking yelling like that? Just because you've stepped out of the ICU doesn't mean you can yell. This is a hospital for one thing and for another, my patient, your friend that you care so much about, was so distressed because of your yelling that I had a hard time calming him down. Do you want to kill him? Because you are going the right way if that's what you want. Another minute and I would've been left with no choice but to sedate him which would've been terrible for his lungs."

"It won't happen again." Gibbs said quietly, almost feeling like a chastised young boy, answering to the school's principal. "It was his-" he stopped before he could continue and reveal more of Tony's secrets.

"Oh, I believe there isn't a soul in the whole hospital who hasn't realized whoever you were talking to was someone from Agent DiNozzo's family." The nurse shook her head, looking so much like a disappointed mother.

It was on the tip of Gibbs' tongue to apologize but he sighed instead and looked up. "You're right. I shouldn't have lost my control."

Seeing the sad look in his eyes, the nurse finally softened her features. "I believe your punishment is waiting for you in the form of your injured agent. Right now the last thing he needs is more pressure and stress. You either fix it or I won't let you visit him again."

"I'll fix it." Gibbs vowed more for Tony's sake than for getting back in that nurse's good graces. They exchanged a nod before Gibbs finally went back to Tony's room, only to find the Senior Field Agent fast asleep and Tim watching him worriedly.

"Boss?... Everything OK?" The junior agent asked hesitantly.

"Go home, Tim. And take Abby with you. You both need rest."

"But... But what about Tony?" McGee asked and looked down at his sleeping teammate.

"I'll stay here. He's gonna be alright."

Tim nodded his head but something was still bothering him. "What about... You know... Um... What about his father?"

"What about him?" Gibbs' tone was hard and cold, leaving no room for argument. "It's nothing new. Everyone Tony needs is already right here around him. He'll be alright. Now go."

Reluctantly, McGee stood up and left the room, promising to stop by first thing in the morning.

"He's gone." Gibbs announced as he sat down on the chair Tim had just vacated.

He knew Tony wasn't at his best and it was hard for the younger man to hide behind his usual masks when he was dealing with so much pain. It was clear that he didn't want for the junior agent to witness how much his father's ignorance and cold behavior had hurt him. No matter what they all had been through together, Tony'd still hide his true feelings around them; of course they could usually see through the smoke and mirrors now, but it was clear to Gibbs that Tony could still fool them from time to time and lock his feelings and many other things inside.

Opening his eyes slightly, Tony looked around the room. "I really was trying to... Sleep... You know." He wheezed and coughed. His lungs were bothering him and his doctors were still trying to find the most painless way to have him up and around so his lungs would heal faster.

"Yeah; and were you successful?" The older man smirked.

Tony almost rolled his eyes. "So?"

"So?"

"So what happ... Happened at the ware... warehouse? The case closed?" Tony couldn't form a full sentence without feeling short of breath and it felt like he was back to the day when he had the plague and he hated that feeling.

"The case is closed." Gibbs nodded. "Listen." He leaned forward and touched Tony's right arm. "What you did..." He knew a simple thank you wouldn't be enough, but it wasn't the first time Tony'd saved his life and he still didn't know how to thank him properly. "Thanks for what you did. But if-"

"I'd do it again." Tony cut him off, surprisingly sounding stronger. "So, don't go there."

Gibbs leaned even further forward and slapped him mildly over the head as a fond smile sat at the corner of his mouth. "Don't think you have all the time in the world to get back in shape. You hear me? You are going to get well soon and come back to work. Bishop is too green and with you gone, I have to do all the works."

"Underes... Underestimating Tih- Tim?" Tony smiled, trying to stifle the cough that was threatening to come out of the bottom of his lungs.

"His specialty is something else. He can't be you."

"Thanks... I guess." Tony closed his eyes and grimaced, his right fist was clenched around the sheet and cold sweat had coated his face.

"The pain too much?" Gibbs asked with a hint of concern to his voice.

"Not like... They... could do muh- much... abah- 'bout it." Tony said through gritted teeth. "Said I... had to... bear it."

Gibbs rubbed his face. "This is why you shouldn't have done what you did." His voice was filled with remorse and self-loathing.

"The lungs... 'r al- already s- scarred." Tony opened his eyes to look at his boss. "What... What 'r some... more... scars?"

"Dammit, Tony-"

"Boss." Tony stopped him before he could start; he summonsed all his energy to talk without a pause. "I'm gonna... be alright." And he was almost successful.

Gibbs sighed. "Of course you are." _'But you shouldn't go through this much pain for me.'_ He added silently and squeezed Tony's right forearm. "I'm sorry." He needed to apologize for putting his friend through that; after all, rule number six didn't apply to friends, because friends would save your life without batting an eye and they'd act like it wasn't a big deal at all.

"Not your fault." Tony said firmly, even though he knew this wouldn't be the end of it. Gibbs would beat himself up until Tony got back on his feet and probably long after that if he could see the scars on his body.

They were both quiet for the next ten minutes until Tony's pain subsided some, so he could speak again. With his eyes still closed, he quietly asked what had been bothering him from the moment he'd heard Gibbs' angry shouts in the hallway. "He was drunk, wasn't he?"

It was clear who Tony was referring to. Gibbs' only answer was an angry growl as he remembered the conversation he'd had with Tony's so-called father. How Tony'd managed to become such an amazing and caring person would always be a mystery to him.

"Don't... Don't call him, again. 'K?"

Gibbs could understand why Tony wouldn't want that and gave Tony's forearm another squeeze. "Won't." He reassured. "And if I ever lost my mind and encouraged you to talk to him again, you have my permission to shoot me."

That brought a smile to Tony's pale face.

"In the shoulder." Gibbs added.

Tony opened his eyes. "Yeah, we wouldn't want... You out of... Out of cuh-... Commission... for long."

"But you don't mind if it's for a short time?" Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Bishop... Can use... That time to... to -" he started to cough harshly and Gibbs helped him to sit up.

"Yeah. I guess she could." He said as he gently tapped Tony's back.

After a few minutes of agonizing coughs and panting, Tony finally got his breath back. "Thanks." He couldn't help but lean a little against the older man's arms and chest. He was too spent to pull himself together.

Gibbs felt that Tony was trying to sit upright on his own, but he was too weak and was falling forward; so, he gently pulled his protégé towards himself, careful of his injuries and burns. "Don't fight it, Tony. Go to sleep."

Tony didn't need to be told twice.

He was so exhausted that the minute that he let his body rest against Gibbs' chest he fell into a fitful sleep. But even though he was in excruciating pain, his posture was calm and relaxed.

This time, he'd gotten hurt pretty bad and he knew that he wouldn't leave that place anytime soon and surely not without some scars, but he knew he'd be alright, eventually, because he had everyone he needed right there with him. Just like Gibbs had said earlier.

His father had once again proved that his son would never come first in his life and even though Tony had been through that same problem countless time in his life, it still stung.

But at least this time he had his friends around him; the people that he had chosen as his true family and he knew they'd be there for him for every agonizing step that was ahead of him. And he also knew Gibbs would have his back the next time his father was in town and that was a comforting thought; because he really didn't think he could face his old man again. Besides, he was determined not to let his father screw him over again and thankfully, Gibbs seemed to be there to help him through it.

**.**

**.**

**... The END ...**


End file.
